Tuesday, December 16, 2014

1 Year

Well I just passed my one year mark.  It's unbelievable how fast this past year has gone and it is fun to reflect back on all the miracles we've seen.  We have also spent a little time decorating for Christmas.  What do you think?


This week was stinking crazy, it has been so cold.  It was -1 this entire week and that was the warmest it ever got.  We were down at the sky train station talking to people and this man said you boys look cold and I said yes we are.  He said that's good it will toughen you boys up. It was funny.
I found out I'm staying in Coquitlam for at least one more transfer.  So I will be here until January 7th which will be good and my companion is staying as well.
We had the miracle family come to church this past week.  They are the ones we called awhile ago and now their whole family is coming to church.  It's crazy!  They have amazing testimonies and they are super smart.  I wish you could see all the people we talk to and go teach everyday.   I think you'd be amazed.
We had Thanksgiving with a family from the ward.  They are from the states and super funny, but their house is kind of disgusting.  We walked in and I went to take my shoes off and the dad says no reason for that you'd just be mopping the floor for us.  They have five cats that live in the house and it is just kind of gross.  Anyway it was super nice of them to have us for Thanksgiving dinner and we loved it.
We found some more people who wanted to talk to us on Thursday, but when we called them the next day they said they weren't interested.  That's kind of how it is trying to open an area that's been closed for a while, nobody is really interested in our message.  Oh well.  I guess that means we just have to pray more and try harder.

I love you all.  Have a great week.

Elder Nielsen

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Coquitlam


This week was sweet.  There is a kid from Mapleton in our zone.  I can't remember his name right now but he says he knows our cousin Bryn.  Small world.

It has literally rained so hard this week it is unreal. I lost my umbrella or someone stole it so Elder Persson and I had to share his.  He is like 5' 5" so I had to bend way down to use his and I feel like my neck is broken now.  On Wednesday we were walking around and it just started pouring.  We were only outside 5 minutes and I was completely soaked because I left my rain coat in the apartment. Ooops!  We were knocking doors and this lady answered and just started laughing when she saw how wet I was.  She said how can I not take one of those books from you boys, you are so funny.
Saturday was park the car day so we literally walked everywhere so we can talk to more people.  We  were walking and it was raining so hard that my shoes are still wet today.  I jumped in the shower for 10 minutes with all my clothes on that's how wet I was.  We have seen so many miracles and we talked to some of the sweetest people. Unfortunately every single person we find lives in another missionaries area so I guess we are finding contacts for them.  I'm convinced that nobody lives in Coquitlam!
We did find a lady a few weeks ago at the sky train station.  I've been talking to her a lot and she is super cool.  I said could we come teach you and she said yes but I live in Vancouver so we gave her information to the sister missionaries in Vancouver.  We hadn't heard how things were going, but the sisters called us on Friday and said that girl is super solid and wants to get baptized.  She will be baptized in a couple of weeks.  What a miracle!!
On Saturday we went and helped Dan and Carol (new investigators) clean their house.  They are super funny they invite us over to help them and they end up sitting and watching us work.  We just laugh, it's all good.
We've been working and working with Brother Blanks but he can't quit smoking.  We have tried everything.  He called us on Saturday and said I can't come to church on Sunday for some crazy reason.  After church we stopped by to visit him and he said I should have come to church I feel so bad, why didn't I go.  We love Brother Blanks we just wish he could stop smoking.
We have been running every morning at the track by our house, now I'm sore I can hardly move.  I'm so out of shape.  We are headed out to play basketball with everyone!
Love,
Elder Nielsen

Friday, September 19, 2014

This week in Coquitlam



This week was so fast it was unreal!  The ward here is cool, but I miss Salmon Arm so bad and the people there (especially Troy and Leonard), but I'm afraid I was liking it too much and it was probably time to get out of there.
My companion and I are speaking in sacrament meeting on September 21st in our new ward so that will be good (I hope). 
We have no idea what to do here, there is nobody to teach so we just go down to the sky train station and talk to people.  The good news is we have two baptismal dates from all that talking for the 11th of October so that's sweet.  I always go and talk to the Jehovah witnesses, I am going to convert one of those people one day.
We have been going to visit some of the less actives.  Brother Blanks went on a mission to South Carolina like 25 years ago (which is kind of weird), but has been smoking ever since.  I feel so bad for him.  I gave him a priesthood blessing that he could stop smoking, but it hasn't seem to help. After the blessing his non-member friend came by and said do you guys want to go have pancakes on Thursday. Of course I said yes.  I think my companion about fell over when he realized we were going to breakfast with a less active and a non-member.   Later in the day I gave another guy named Brian a blessing to help him stop smoking and he said he felt amazing when I was giving him the blessing.  He said he hasn't smoked in over a week, so that is awesome.  What an amazing experience.

We chill at the sky train station all day because there are so many people coming and going from college and work.  Most people really love talking to us which is great.  We gave this 19 year old kid a Book of Mormon and he read 1st and 2nd Nephi in two weeks.  That has been a miracle.  We met him at Tim Hortin's after that and set a baptismal date for October 11th.
We had zone conference with all three zones in the lower mainland.  It was crazy and fun to see some of my old companions.  We can have dinner now with the members without investigators which is a great blessing.  I like it, but it's kind of stressful because you have to come up with stuff to talk about and sometimes I am kind of boring.  Oh well!
Have a good week.  Love you all!!
Elder Nielsen:):):)

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Coquitlam.....

I found out this morning I'm getting transferred.  I'm headed to Coquitlam which is in the lower mainland of British Columbia and the six largest city.  It is roughly the size of Provo or Orem (150,000 people).  Because of the Pacific ocean and mountains the annual average precipitation is..... 77 inches.  Yes that's right 77 inches which is about 6 times what you get in Utah.  Luckily since it is close to the coast most of that is in the form of rain.  I also found out I'm going to be a District leader.  I'm not sure I am ready for that. :-|

I love Salmon Arm and I will miss everything about this place.  


We visited Troy and Leonard and they always have funny stories for us.  They were telling us their pigs have gained 100 pounds in a week.  I said they don't look any bigger to me and Troy said come on Elder Nielsen can't you tell they've gained weight.  I said no not really.  Those two guys are funny and I'm going to miss them.

Brother Mourtisen is the guy that had the heart attack.  I guess when he was in the ambulance going to Kelowna he was teaching all the doctors and nurses about the Restoration.  He said I about had them, they were all super interested and I got a few of their addresses and phone numbers for you guys.  I said wow Brother Mourtisen that is more missionary work than the rest of the members in the ward have done since we've been here.  He's a great man!

I guess next time I talk to you I will be in Coquitlam.  I love you all have a great week.  Thanks for all your support.

Elder Morgan Nielsen

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Hi Family...



This week was so fast!!  It seems like yesterday I was e-mailing you!! Stephanie the lady I told you about last week said thanks for helping me, I know your church is true but I just don't want to join and have that kind of commitment!! We stopped teaching her, but she will come around one day!

Tanya and Cole the people with the five little kids who were so excited about baptism and church, well Sister Henrie found out from Tanya's sister that tithing is what scared them away.  They don't have a lot of money and so that's what stopped them, not the little Korean minister like they said.

We went out to Troy and Leonard's to visit and bought 40 dollars worth of fruit!!  They are the funniest dudes.  Troy was showing us around the yard, even though I have seen it at least 100 times. They bought 3 pigs and they had all this fruit they wanted to feed them so they asked us to help.  They are so funny.  They're the best.

Brother Poitrie (the ward mission leader) always picks up random hitch hikers and gives them a copy of the Book of Mormon.  He says they are straight out of jail and will appreciate anything they get.  He cries during every lesson he teaches and during any lesson we give as well.  He is a great man that feels the spirit.

The greeter at Walmart that we talk to every week is hilarious.  He is always asking us if we can date on our missions and we tell him no, but he asks us that question every week.  Funny guy!

The deaf guy still texts us everyday!  He always hugs us tells us that the weather is hot then says hugs to both of you.  He said you guys are my best friends since we met on July 6th last month.  We love him and appreciate his love.

Not a lot has happened this week.  We went to Kamloops for zone conference!! 

And good news...... I still haven't had fast food for almost two weeks now!

Have a great week everyone.  I love you!!

Elder Nielsen